The Utah board of regents today approved some of the lowest tuition increases in a decade.
The higher education authority approved a 5 percent system-wide increase for all eight institutions; although students at Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley University will notice a 6 percent increase. Officials at those two institutions requested the additional 1 percent hike. Last year, the average increase was 5.6 percent. Higher Education Commissioner Dave Bueler says due to increased funding from the state legislature, the board of regents was able minimize the financial blow to Utah students.
"And yet we are all aware that college is increasingly expensive," Bueler says. "As a state like other states, almost every state in the country, we have seen a shift from responsibility for financing higher education from legislatures and the taxpayers more to students.”
A 5 percent tuition increase at the University of Utah translates to a $310 hike for the full school year.
Tuition increases take effect for the 2013 summer term.
